Facebook Costs American Companies a Staggering $280 Billion a Year

Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but tech blogger Michael Fitzgerald was able to calculate that workers wasting time on the social networking site costs US companies $280 billion in annual productivity losses.

Fitzgerald used publicly available information to conclude the average American worker spends seven minutes a workday on Facebook — if he has regular computer access at his place of employment. Figuring 30 percent of the US’ 160 million workers have this access, and that the average US salary is $50,000 a year, Fitzgerald did some handy dandy calculations and came up with the $280 billion sum.

The staggering total Fitzgerald calculated even dwarfs the valuation of Facebook, the company, which is worth an impressive $50-$65 billion.